56-693: The Ghiljī ( Pashto : غلجي , pronounced [ɣəlˈd͡ʒi] ; Persian : خیلجی , romanized : Xelji ) also spelled Khilji, Khalji, or Ghilzai and Ghilzay ( غلزی ), are one of the largest Pashtun tribes. Their traditional homeland is Ghazni and Qalati Ghilji in Afghanistan but they have also settled in other regions throughout the Afghanistan-Pakistan Pashtun belt. The modern nomadic Kochi people are predominantly made up of Ghilji tribes. The Ghilji make up around 20–25% of Afghanistan's total population. They mostly speak
112-784: A punitive expedition to obtain their submission. During the time of the Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia , many Khalajs and Turkomans gathered in Peshawar and joined the army of Saif al-Din Ighraq, who was likely a Khalaj himself. This army defeated the petty king of Ghazni, Radhi al-Mulk. The last Khwarazmian ruler, Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu , was forced by the Mongols to flee towards the Hindu Kush . Ighraq's army, as well as many other Khalaj and other tribesmen, joined
168-453: A royal decree of Zahir Shah formally granted Pashto the status of an official language, with full rights to use in all aspects of government and education – despite the fact that the ethnically Pashtun royal family and bureaucrats mostly spoke Persian. Thus Pashto became a national language , a symbol for Pashtun nationalism . The constitutional assembly reaffirmed the status of Pashto as an official language in 1964 when Afghan Persian
224-693: A hand-mill as being derived from the Ancient Greek word μηχανή ( mēkhanḗ , i.e. a device). Post-7th century borrowings came primarily from Persian and Hindi-Urdu , with Arabic words being borrowed through Persian, but sometimes directly. Modern speech borrows words from English, French , and German . However, a remarkably large number of words are unique to Pashto. Here is an exemplary list of Pure Pashto and borrowings: naṛә́i jahān dunyā tod/táwda garm aṛtyā́ ḍarurah híla umid də...pə aṛá bāra bolә́la qasidah Lodi (Pashtun tribe) Lodi ( Pashto ; لودهی)
280-537: A large number of them were forced to migrate to northern Afghanistan by Barakzai Emir Abdur Rahman Khan . Among those who were exiled was Sher Khan Nashir , chief of the Kharoti Ghilji tribe, who would become the governor of Qataghan-Badakhshan Province in the 1930s. Launching an industrialization and economic development campaign, he founded the Spinzar Cotton Company and helped making Kunduz one of
336-604: A mythical genealogy according to which the Ghilji descended from Shah Hussain Ghori and his first wife Bībī Matō, who was a daughter of Pashtun Sufi saint Bēṭ Nīkə (progenitor of the Bettani tribal confederacy), son of Qais Abdur Rashid (progenitor of all Pashtuns). Shah Hussain Ghori was described in the book as a patriarch from Ghor who was related to the Shansabani family, which later founded
392-577: A parallel form *Ghalaj ." The word finally yielded Ghəljī and Ghəlzay in Pashto. According to a popular folk etymology , the name Ghəljī or Ghəlzay is derived from Gharzay ( غرزی ; ghar means "mountain" while -zay means "descendant of"), a Pashto name meaning "born of mountain" or " hill people ." One theory of origin states that Ghiljis are likely to be descended from the Khalaj people . According to historian C.E. Bosworth , it seems very likely that
448-632: A policy of compromise with the Georgian ruler Erekle II —whose daughter he married—Azad rose to power between 1752 and 1757, controlling part of the Azerbaijan region up to Urmia city, northwestern and northern Persia , and parts of southwestern Turkmenistan and eastern Kurdistan . During the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842), Ghilji tribesmen played an important role in the Afghan victory against
504-596: A promoter of the wealth and antiquity of Afghanistan's Pashto culture." From the 16th century, Pashto poetry become very popular among the Pashtuns. Some of those who wrote in Pashto are Bayazid Pir Roshan (a major inventor of the Pashto alphabet ), Khushal Khan Khattak , Rahman Baba , Nazo Tokhi , and Ahmad Shah Durrani , founder of the modern state of Afghanistan or the Durrani Empire . The Pashtun literary tradition grew in
560-502: A punitive expedition sent to Merv in present-day Turkmenistan . Just before the Mongol invasion , Najib Bakran's geography Jahān Nāma (c. 1200–1220) described the transformation that the Khalaj tribe was going through: The Khalaj are a tribe of Turks who from the Khallukh limits migrated to Zabulistan. Among the districts of Ghazni there is a steppe where they reside. Then, on account of
616-522: A variety very similar to it, while others have attempted to place it closer to Bactrian . However, neither position is universally agreed upon. What scholars do agree on is the fact that Pashto is an Eastern Iranian language sharing characteristics with Eastern Middle Iranian languages such as Bactrian, Khwarezmian and Sogdian . Compare with other Eastern Iranian Languages and Old Avestan : Zə tā winə́m /ɐz dɐ wənən/ Az bū tū dzunim Strabo , who lived between 64 BC and 24 CE, explains that
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#1733085522910672-421: Is "one of the primary markers of ethnic identity" amongst Pashtuns. A national language of Afghanistan , Pashto is primarily spoken in the east, south, and southwest, but also in some northern and western parts of the country. The exact number of speakers is unavailable, but different estimates show that Pashto is the mother tongue of 45–60% of the total population of Afghanistan . In Pakistan , Pashto
728-591: Is a Pashtun tribe from the Ghilji group of Pashtuns . In mythical genealogy, they have also been considered as being part of the Bettani tribal confederacy. The Lodi tribe consists of many sub-tribes, most of whom are now settled in the Tank , Frontier Region Tank , Lakki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of modern-day Pakistan . These tribes were nomadic for most of their existence and migrated to their present-day locations by crossing
784-567: Is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family , natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan . It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa . It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ( افغانی , Afghāni ). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns , it is one of
840-541: Is spoken by 15% of its population, mainly in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern districts of Balochistan province. It is also spoken in parts of Mianwali and Attock districts of the Punjab province , areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and in Islamabad . Pashto speakers are found in other major cities of Pakistan, most notably Karachi , Sindh, which may have the largest Pashtun population of any city in
896-555: Is taught poorly in schools in Pakistan. Moreover, in government schools material is not provided for in the Pashto dialect of that locality, Pashto being a dialectically rich language. Further, researchers have observed that Pashtun students are unable to fully comprehend educational material in Urdu. Professor Tariq Rahman states: "The government of Pakistan, faced with irredentist claims from Afghanistan on its territory, also discouraged
952-733: The Ghaznavid Emir Sabuktigin defeated the Hindu Shahi ruler Jayapala in 988, the Pashtuns (Afghans) and Khalaj between Laghman and Peshawar , the territory he conquered, surrendered and agreed to serve him. Al-Utbi further stated that Pashtun and Khalaj tribesmen were recruited in significant numbers by the Ghaznavid Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni (999–1030) to take part in his military conquests, including his expedition to Tokharistan . The Khalaj later revolted against Mahmud's son Sultan Mas'ud I of Ghazni (1030–1040), who sent
1008-488: The Ghurid dynasty . He fled Ghor when al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ( Umayyad governor of Iraq , 694–714) dispatched an army to attack Ghor and entered into the service of Bēṭ Nīkə, who made him an adopted son. The book further stated that Shah Hussain Ghori fell in love with the saint's daughter Bībī Matō, fathering a son with her out of wedlock. The child was named by the saint as ghal-zōy ( غلزوی ), Pashto for "thief's son," from whom
1064-801: The Gomal Pass throughout different times in history. Two tribes among the Lodi ended up establishing their own empires, the Sur tribe established the Sur Empire and the Prangi tribe established the Lodi Dynasty . Lohani , also known as Nuhani, is the largest sub-group among the Lodi tribe. The Lohani migrated and crossed the Gomal Pass en masse during the late 1500s, into present-day Lodi territory and displaced other Lodi tribes such as Sur and Prangi that had settled in
1120-512: The Tarakai and Kharoti branches of the Ghilji tribe, respectively. In Afghanistan, the Ghilji are primarily concentrated in an area which is bordered in the southeast by the Durand Line , in the northwest by a line stretching from Kandahar via Ghazni to Kabul , and in the northeast by Jalalabad . Large numbers were forced to migrate to northern Afghanistan after the rebellion of 1886. Before
1176-612: The central dialect of Pashto with transitional features between the southern and northern varieties of Pashto. According to historian C.E. Bosworth , the tribal name "Ghilji" is derived from the name of the Khalaj ( خلج ) tribe. According to historian V. Minorsky , the ancient Turkic form of the name was Qalaj (or Qalach ), but the Turkic / q / changed to / kh / in Arabic sources ( Qalaj > Khalaj ). Minorsky added: " Qalaj could have
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#17330855229101232-593: The 1930s, a movement began to take hold to promote Pashto as a language of government, administration, and art with the establishment of a Pashto Society Pashto Anjuman in 1931 and the inauguration of the Kabul University in 1932 as well as the formation of the Pashto Academy (Pashto Tolana) in 1937. Muhammad Na'im Khan, the minister of education between 1938 and 1946, inaugurated the formal policy of promoting Pashto as Afghanistan's national language, leading to
1288-626: The 1947 partition of India , some Ghilji used to seasonally winter as nomadic merchants in India, buying goods there, and transporting them by camel caravan in summer for sale or barter in Afghanistan. The Ghilji of the central region speak Central Pashto , a dialect with unique phonetic features, transitional between the southern and the northern dialects of Pashto . Pashto language Pashto ( / ˈ p ʌ ʃ t oʊ / PUH -shto , / ˈ p æ ʃ t oʊ / PASH -toe ; پښتو , Pəx̌tó , [pəʂˈto, pʊxˈto, pəʃˈto, pəçˈto] )
1344-463: The 20,000–30,000 strong Khalaj, Turkmen, and Ghori tribesmen who had abandoned Jalal ad-Din. Some of these tribesmen escaped to Multan and were recruited into the army of the Delhi Sultanate . 13th-century Tarikh-i Jahangushay , written by historian Ata-Malik Juvayni , narrated that a levy comprising the "Khalaj of Ghazni" and the "Afghan" (Pashtuns) were mobilized by the Mongols to take part in
1400-805: The 8th century, and they use the writings found in Pata Khazana . Pə́ṭa Xazāná ( پټه خزانه ) is a Pashto manuscript claimed to be written by Mohammad Hotak under the patronage of the Pashtun emperor Hussain Hotak in Kandahar ; containing an anthology of Pashto poets. However, its authenticity is disputed by scholars such as David Neil MacKenzie and Lucia Serena Loi. Nile Green comments in this regard: "In 1944, Habibi claimed to have discovered an eighteenth-century manuscript anthology containing much older biographies and verses of Pashto poets that stretched back as far as
1456-638: The British East India Company . On 6 January 1842, as the British Indian garrison retreated from Kabul , consisting of about 16,000 soldiers, supporting personnel, and women, a Ghilji force attacked them through the winter snows of the Hindu Kush and systematically killed them day by day. On 12 January, as the British regiment reached a hillock near Gandamak , their last survivors—about 45 British soldiers and 20 officers—were killed or held captive by
1512-465: The Ghilji force, leaving only one British survivor, surgeon William Brydon , to reach Jalalabad at the end of the retreat on 13 January. This battle became a resonant event in Ghiljis' oral history and tradition, which narrates that Brydon was intentionally let to escape so that he could tell his people about the bravery of the tribesmen. The Ghilji rebelled against Afghanistan's ruler in 1886, after which
1568-499: The Ghilzai derived their name. The 1595 Mughal account Ain-i-Akbari , written by Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak , also gave a similar account about Ghiljis' origin. However, it named the patriarch from Ghor as "Mast Ali Ghori" (which, according to Nimat Allah al-Harawi, was the pseudonym of Shah Hussain Ghori), and asserted that the Pashtuns called him "Mati". After the illicit intercourse with one of
1624-603: The Iranian city of Isfahan remained the dynasty's capital for six years. The dynasty ended in 1738 when its last ruler, Hussain Hotak , was defeated by Nader Shah Afshar at the Battle of Kandahar . Azad Khan Afghan , who played a prominent role in the power struggle in western Iran after the death of Nader Shah Afshar in 1747, belonged to the Andar tribe of Ghiljis. Through a series of alliance with local Kurdish and Turkish chieftains, and
1680-613: The Khalaj people of the Gazna formed the core of the Ghilji tribe, who are usually referred to as Turks . The Khalaj were sometimes mentioned alongside Pashtun tribes in the armies of several local dynasties, including the Ghaznavids (977–1186). According to The Cambridge History of Iran volume 3, Issue 1, the Ghilji tribe of Afghanistan are the descendants of Hephthalites. The 17th-century Mughal courtier Nimat Allah al-Harawi , in his book Tārīkh-i Khān Jahānī wa Makhzan-i Afghānī , wrote
1736-659: The Khalaj were one of the earliest tribes to have crossed the Amu Darya from Central Asia and settled in parts of present-day Afghanistan, especially in the Ghazni , Qalati Ghilji (also known as Qalati Khalji), and Zabulistan regions. Mid-10th-century book Hudud al-'Alam described the Khalaj as sheep-grazing nomads in Ghazni and the surrounding districts, who had a habit of wandering through seasonal pastures . 11th-century book Tarikh Yamini , written by al-Utbi, stated that when
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1792-652: The Khwarazmian force of Jalal ad-Din and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Mongols at the 1221 Battle of Parwan . However, after the victory, the Khalajs, Turkomans , and Ghoris in the army quarreled with the Khwarazmians over the booty, and finally left, soon after which Jalal ad-Din was defeated by Genghis Khan at the Battle of the Indus and forced to flee to India. Ighraq returned to Peshawar, but later Mongol detachments defeated
1848-517: The Pashto Movement and eventually allowed its use in peripheral domains only after the Pakhtun elite had been co-opted by the ruling elite...Thus, even though there is still an active desire among some Pakhtun activists to use Pashto in the domains of power, it is more of a symbol of Pakhtun identity than one of nationalism." Robert Nicols states: "In the end, national language policy, especially in
1904-662: The Pathan community in the city of Kolkata , often nicknamed the Kabuliwala ("people of Kabul "). Pashtun diaspora communities in other countries around the world speak Pashto, especially the sizable communities in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia . Pashto is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan, along with Dari Persian . Since the early 18th century, the monarchs of Afghanistan have been ethnic Pashtuns (except for Habibullāh Kalakāni in 1929). Persian,
1960-653: The Society's annual meeting in 1927. In 1955, Pashtun intellectuals including Abdul Qadir formed the Pashto Academy Peshawar on the model of Pashto Tolana formed in Afghanistan. In 1974, the Department of Pashto was established in the University of Balochistan for the promotion of Pashto. In Pakistan, Pashto is the first language around of 15% of its population (per the 1998 census). However, Urdu and English are
2016-537: The attack. After a hunt on the plains of Katawaz the next day, where deer and wild asses were plentiful, Babur marched off to Kabul. In April 1709, Mirwais Hotak , who was a member of the Hotak tribe of Ghiljis, led a successful revolution against the Safavids and founded the Hotak dynasty based in Kandahar , declaring southern Afghanistan independent of Safavid rule. His son Mahmud Hotak conquered Iran in 1722, and
2072-501: The backdrop to weakening Pashtun power following Mughal rule: Khushal Khan Khattak used Pashto poetry to rally for Pashtun unity and Pir Bayazid as an expedient means to spread his message to the Pashtun masses. For instance Khushal Khattak laments in : "The Afghans (Pashtuns) are far superior to the Mughals at the sword, Were but the Afghans, in intellect, a little discreet. If
2128-646: The commission and publication of Pashto textbooks. The Pashto Tolana was later incorporated into the Academy of Sciences Afghanistan in line with Soviet model following the Saur Revolution in 1978. Although officially supporting the use of Pashto, the Afghan elite regarded Persian as a "sophisticated language and a symbol of cultured upbringing". King Zahir Shah (reigning 1933–1973) thus followed suit after his father Nadir Khan had decreed in 1933 that officials were to study and utilize both Persian and Pashto. In 1936
2184-520: The daughters of Bēṭ Nīkə, "when the results of this clandestine intimacy were about to become manifest, he preserved her reputation by marriage. Three sons were born to him, vis., Ghilzai (progenitor of the Ghilji tribe), Lōdī (progenitor of the Lodi tribe), and Sarwānī (progenitor of the Sarwani tribe)." Medieval Muslim scholars, including 9th-10th century geographers Ibn Khordadbeh and Istakhri , narrated that
2240-410: The different tribes would but support each other, Kings would have to bow down in prostration before them" Pashto is a subject–object–verb (SOV) language with split ergativity . In Pashto, this means that the verb agrees with the subject in transitive and intransitive sentences in non-past, non-completed clauses, but when a completed action is reported in any of the past tenses, the verb agrees with
2296-443: The eighth century. It was an extraordinary claim, implying as it did that the history of Pashto literature reached back further in time than Persian, thus supplanting the hold of Persian over the medieval Afghan past. Although it was later convincingly discredited through formal linguistic analysis, Habibi's publication of the text under the title Pata Khazana ('Hidden Treasure') would (in Afghanistan at least) establish his reputation as
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2352-447: The field of education in the NWFP, had constructed a type of three tiered language hierarchy. Pashto lagged far behind Urdu and English in prestige or development in almost every domain of political or economic power..." Although Pashto used as a medium of instruction in schools for Pashtun students results in better understanding and comprehension for students when compared to using Urdu, still
2408-399: The government of Pakistan has only introduced Pashto at the primary levels in state-run schools. Taimur Khan remarks: "the dominant Urdu language squeezes and denies any space for Pashto language in the official and formal capacity. In this contact zone, Pashto language exists but in a subordinate and unofficial capacity". Some linguists have argued that Pashto is descended from Avestan or
2464-594: The heat of the air, their complexion has changed and tended towards blackness; the tongue too has undergone alterations and become a different language. The Khalji or Khilji dynasty ruled the Delhi sultanate , covering large parts of the Indian subcontinent for nearly three decades between 1290 and 1320. Founded by Jalal ud din Firuz Khalji as the second dynasty to rule the Delhi Sultanate of India , and successfully fending off
2520-595: The literary language of the royal court, was more widely used in government institutions, while the Pashtun tribes spoke Pashto as their native tongue . King Amanullah Khan began promoting Pashto during his reign (1926–1929) as a marker of ethnic identity and as a symbol of "official nationalism" leading Afghanistan to independence after the defeat of the British Empire in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919. In
2576-413: The native elements of the lexicon are related to other Eastern Iranian languages . As noted by Josef Elfenbein, "Loanwords have been traced in Pashto as far back as the third century B.C., and include words from Greek and probably Old Persian". For instance, Georg Morgenstierne notes the Pashto word مېچن [mečә́n] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 4) ( help ) i.e.
2632-465: The possessed in the genitive construction, and adjectives come before the nouns they modify. Unlike most other Indo-Iranian languages, Pashto uses all three types of adpositions —prepositions, postpositions, and circumpositions. *The retroflex rhotic or lateral, tends to be a lateral flap [ 𝼈 ] at the beginning of a syllable or other prosodic unit, and a regular flap [ ɽ ] or approximant [ ɻ ] elsewhere. In Pashto, most of
2688-436: The region in prior times. Although other Lohani tribes had also made earlier deeper incursions into India, as far as Bihar , and settled therein during the days of the Lodi dynasty . The earliest mention of the Lohani tribes comes in the form of an inscription written on a tablet from 1496 AD in Bihar during the days of the Lodi dynasty . The inscription records the construction of a certain gate by Darya Khan Nuhani who
2744-457: The repeated Mongol invasions of India . One year after the 1506 Battle of Qalati Ghilji , the Timurid ruler Babur marched out of Kabul with the intention to crush Ghilji Pashtuns. On the way, the Timurid army overran Mohmand Pashtuns in Sardeh Band , and then attacked and killed Ghilji Pashtuns in the mountains of Khwaja Ismail, setting up "a pillar of Afghan heads," as Babur wrote in his Baburnama . Many sheep were also captured during
2800-444: The subject if it is intransitive, but with the object if it is transitive. Verbs are inflected for present, simple past, past progressive, present perfect, and past perfect tenses. There is also an inflection for the subjunctive mood . Nouns and adjectives are inflected for two genders (masculine and feminine), two numbers (singular and plural), and four cases (direct, oblique, ablative, and vocative). The possessor precedes
2856-417: The tribes inhabiting the lands west of the Indus River were part of Ariana . This was around the time when the area inhabited by the Pashtuns was governed by the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom . From the 3rd century CE onward, they are mostly referred to by the name Afghan ( Abgan ). Abdul Hai Habibi believed that the earliest modern Pashto work dates back to Amir Kror Suri of the early Ghurid period in
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#17330855229102912-418: The two official languages of Afghanistan alongside Dari , and it is the second-largest provincial language of Pakistan , spoken mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern districts of Balochistan . Likewise, it is the primary language of the Pashtun diaspora around the world. The total number of Pashto-speakers is at least 40 million, although some estimates place it as high as 60 million. Pashto
2968-411: The two official languages of Pakistan. Pashto has no official status at the federal level. On a provincial level, Pashto is the regional language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and north Balochistan . Yet, the primary medium of education in government schools in Pakistan is Urdu. The lack of importance given to Pashto and its neglect has caused growing resentment amongst Pashtuns. It is noted that Pashto
3024-498: The wealthiest Afghan cities. Sher Khan also implemented Qezel Qala harbour on the Panj River at the border with Tajikistan , which was later named Sher Khan Bandar in his honour. More recently, the former Presidents of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (2014–2021) and Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (1987–1992) belonged to the Ahmadzai branch of the Ghilji tribe. Two other former Presidents of Afghanistan, Nur Muhammad Taraki (1978–1979) and Hafizullah Amin (1979), belonged to
3080-416: The world. Other communities of Pashto speakers are found in India , Tajikistan , and northeastern Iran (primarily in South Khorasan Province to the east of Qaen , near the Afghan border). In India most ethnic Pashtun (Pathan) peoples speak the geographically native Hindi-Urdu language rather than Pashto, but there are small numbers of Pashto speakers, such as the Sheen Khalai in Rajasthan , and
3136-453: Was officially renamed to Dari . The lyrics of the national anthem of Afghanistan are in Pashto. In British India , prior to the creation of Pakistan by the British government, the 1920s saw the blossoming of Pashto language in the then NWFP : Abdul Ghafar Khan in 1921 established the Anjuman-e- Islah al-Afaghina (Society for the Reformation of Afghans) to promote Pashto as an extension of Pashtun culture; around 80,000 people attended
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